Although gaming has existed in some form for many years, its present familiar form of slot devices, table games, sports books, etc. has mainly developed in the last few decades. During this development process, the need to make gaming stations comfortable for the player was recognized. These comfort improvements were advantageous to gaming casinos and other gaming businesses because it encouraged players to play for longer amounts of time. Gaming chairs were a major part of this development because they provide both support and comfort to players playing the gaming machines. Additionally, chairs allow gaming players with limited mobility or strength to comfortably position themselves during game play at a gaming device.
The gaming establishments, however, realized that although chairs provided a comfort increase for players, there were certain disadvantages to having them present. One disadvantage is that the presence of chairs takes up valuable floor space and can crowd aisles between gaming machines. This often means that banks of gaming machines must be separated by a greater margin to allow the chairs to fit into the aisles between the gaming machine banks. Another disadvantage is that the presence of chairs makes cleaning the floors and machines more difficult. The chairs must be moved to allow vacuums easy passage and allow cleaning staff to clean the faces of the gaming machines. Although not a problem on the same scale of the cleaning issues, slot technicians must also often move the chairs to access the gaming devices. A further disadvantage is that chairs separate from the gaming machines are relatively mobile resulting in various dangerous situations. For example, a careless or inebriated player may tilt back on a separated chair and fall over, which provides a risk both to that player and other people in the immediate vicinity. Other examples may include situations where angry or frustrated players attempt to pick up or throw the separated chairs. In addition to these more dangerous situations, chairs that are separated from the gaming machines may be moved and misplaced.
To address some of these problems, some gaming jurisdictions and casinos require that gaming chairs be physically attached to the gaming devices. This is typically done through a metal plate that attaches to the base of the gaming machine and the base of the chair. Since one of the goals of this setup is to prevent players from purposefully removing the chair, the physical connections between the chair, metal plate, and gaming device are generally structured to prevent players from being able to disconnect the chairs from the gaming devices. However, to accomplish this structure, the physical connections are generally very difficult and cumbersome for casino personnel to remove. This difficulty slows down gaming machine movement on a gaming floor during reorganizations of gaming floors and can make access to the lower doors of the gaming device difficult during routine maintenance or other repairs.
In addition, conventional chair connection systems include a mechanical latch to retain the chair in the gaming machine. That is, the metal plate generally has a hook or pin that fits into and interfaces with a latch located in the base of a gaming machine. This additional mechanical system in gaming devices, however, increases the cost of manufacturing the gaming machines due to the additional parts needed for the latch system. Since only some jurisdictions and casinos require that the chair be attached to the gaming device, this additional manufacturing cost becomes needless if all machines are manufactured with the latch system. However, if only a portion of the gaming machines are fitted with a latch, potentially costly adjustments must be made to the manufacturing process to accommodate both styles of gaming machines (i.e., ones without the latch system and ones with the latch system). Additionally, if there is a mechanical problem with the latch system, the entire game has to be taken out of service for repair, which can cost the casino potential revenue.
Conventional latching systems also generally have a raised portion at the connection point with the machine to facilitate an area for the latch pin or hook. This raised portion, however, can interfere with a player's foot room and can be incompatible with gaming devices that have a low profile base. Further, some conventional latching systems require an attachment point to the casino floor to prevent lateral or vertical movement (rocking) of the chair and metal plate. This requirement adds additional complexity and cost for a casino and limits the possible game floor arrangements of the gaming machines.
These and other problems in conventional gaming devices are addressed by embodiments of the present invention.